Scuola Internazionale di Teatro Italiano "Giovanni Grasso"
Scuola Internazionale di Teatro Italiano “Giovanni Grasso” is the only school of Italian language and performance in North America.
We are an artistic and pedagogical collective dedicated to the exploration and rediscovery of Italian culture, language and performing arts.
Our Philosophy
We aim to provide a space for holistic artistic discovery and growth. Through the Relationship Acting Method, thorough linguistic immersion, process oriented rehearsals and coachings and a vocal approach based on owning the uniqueness of each human instrument, our core team works as a whole to challenge performers to connect all aspects of their expressivity.
What we offer:
Our summer school offers a wide range of advanced classes designed exclusively to improve the performance of singers from every point of view.
Our courses include:
– Voice masterclasses
– One-on-one voice coachings
– Beginners & Advanced Italian, to master Italian language in all its nuances
– Performative Diction for Singers: a new approach to Italian diction, aimed at developing pronunciation and voice flow to its maximum capability
– Relationship Acting Method: an acting method created exclusively for Opera singers to increase their stage presence and discover their star power
Summer School
Our summer school offers a wide range of advanced classes designed exclusively to improve the performance of singers from every point of view.
Our courses include:
– Voice masterclasses
– One-on-one voice coachings
– Beginners & Advanced Italian, to master Italian language in all its nuances
– Performative Diction for Singers: a new approach to Italian diction, aimed at developing pronunciation and voice flow to its maximum capability
– Relationship Acting Method: an acting method created exclusively for Opera singers to increase their stage presence and discover their star power
Our faculty offers a range of online courses:
– Italian language and conversation (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced)
– Italian Diction
– Aria & Character Analysis
– Composition and Musicianship (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced)
For info and rates, contact us via email at scuolagiovannigrasso@gmail.com
Year-long Mentorship
Our faculty offers a range of online courses:
– Italian language and conversation (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced)
– Italian Diction
– Aria & Character Analysis
– Composition and Musicianship (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced)
For info and rates, contact us via email at scuolagiovannigrasso@gmail.com
We offer a range of online and on-demand programs including:
– individual coaching packages (acting, musical, Italian diction and branding)
– Aria & Character analysis
– the professional recording of piano tracks for demos
– a revamped biography, your build-in lexical field for social media content, and a communication strategy
– personalized Italian lessons
– group conversation sessions
Online Workshops
We offer a range of online and on-demand programs including:
– individual coaching packages (acting, musical, Italian diction and branding)
– Aria & Character analysis
– the professional recording of piano tracks for demos
– a revamped biography, your build-in lexical field for social media content, and a communication strategy
– personalized Italian lessons
– group conversation sessions
School 2022
Our Programs
VAMP!
Vocal Artist Media Package
In-Person Program
From 6 to 22 June
From Monday to Friday
Take your audition to a whole new level. Scuola Giovanni Grasso’s Vocal Artist Media Package (or VAMP!) is a two-week intensive program tailored to get you ready for the next audition season and provide you with a full package to promote yourself as an emerging professional performer. Improve your stage presence, acting, and musicianship with online and in-person coachings at the Café d’Art Vocal, revamp your portfolio and brand identity, get professional headshots, and record your state-of-the-art demo in one of Montreal’s best sounding venues, the charming Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur.
VAMP! - Vocal Artist Media Package
In-Person Program
From 6 to 22 June
From Monday to Friday
Take your audition to a whole new level. Scuola Giovanni Grasso’s Vocal Artist Media Package (or VAMP!) is a two-week intensive program tailored to get you ready for the next audition season and provide you with a full package to promote yourself as an emerging professional performer. Improve your stage presence, acting, and musicianship with online and in-person coachings at the Café d’Art Vocal, revamp your portfolio and brand identity, get professional headshots, and record your state-of-the-art demo in one of Montreal’s best sounding venues, the charming Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur.
The program includes:
- Career path and biography writing workshops
- 9 hours of individual coaching (acting, stage presence, Italian diction, vocal coaching, aria interpretation)
- The video and audio recording of two arias (one in Italian and one in your chosen language)
- Professional headshots
Cost: $CAN 1200
Deadline extended: April 30 May 15
To apply, please fill out this online form. While filling out the form, you will be asked to provide your general information and upload your cv/portfolio. Sharing media content/recordings of your previous work is encouraged.
For more information, reach us at scuolagiovannigrasso@gmail.com
The program includes:
- Career path and biography writing workshops
- 9 hours of individual coaching (acting, stage presence, Italian diction, vocal coaching, aria interpretation)
- The video and audio recording of two arias (one in Italian and one in your chosen language)
- Professional headshots
Cost: $CAN 1200
Deadline extended: April 30 May 15
To apply, please fill out this online form. While filling out the form, you will be asked to provide your general information and upload your cv/portfolio. Sharing media content/recordings of your previous work is encouraged.
For more information, reach us at scuolagiovannigrasso@gmail.com
DIY VAMP!
DIY Vocal Artist Media Package
Online Program
On-demand
Prepare to record your own audition material with one-on-one coachings, revamp your portfolio and brand identity, get professional tracks for your recordings and get technical help to record your state-of-the-art DIY demo for the next season. All online, anytime.
DIY VAMP! - Vocal Artist Media Package
Online Program
On-demand
Prepare to record your own audition material with one-on-one coachings, revamp your portfolio and brand identity, get professional tracks for your recordings and get technical help to record your state-of-the-art DIY demo for the next season.
All online, anytime.
The program includes:
-
6 hours of individual coaching (acting, musical, Italian diction and branding)
-
The professional recording of two piano tracks for your demo
-
A revamped biography, your build-in lexical field for social media content, and a communication strategy
Cost: $CAN 350
For more information, reach us at scuolagiovannigrasso@gmail.com
The program includes:
-
6 hours of individual coaching (acting, musical, Italian diction and branding)
-
The professional recording of two piano tracks for your demo
-
A revamped biography, your build-in lexical field for social media content, and a communication strategy
Cost: $CAN 350
For more information, reach us at scuolagiovannigrasso@gmail.com
Our collective:
ROSE NAGGAR-TREMBLAY
Mezzosoprano and Opera creator
“Find what is exceptional,
work from there.’’
Teaching Approach
Both as a voice and language teacher, I like to seek the unique entry point to each artist. Is it a vowel particularly warm or brilliant, is it a poem that vibrates deeply within you? Find that exceptionality and expend it to the whole. It will serve as a motivating anchor through your artistic journey. For voice lessons specifically, I tend to address body alignment, breathing mechanism, phonation, and vocal agility through auditory imagination.
Classes offered
-Voice lessons: $50 ̸ h
-Beginner Italian: a two weeks intensive approach to kickstart your learning process. $250 for 10 lessons and a personalized language acquisition plan.
VALERIO VITTORIO GARAFFA
Director, actor, acting teacher
“Stage presence is not a gift.
It is an art that can be learned.”
Teaching Approach
I like to imagine an Opera singer completely ruling the stage. My work helps performers find a full connection between music, text and characters’ emotions. My method is based on a deep study of the libretto, extensive work on physical awareness and emotional management: these axes greatly improve a singer’s performance.
Classes offered
-Acting lessons: $50 / h
-Aria & Character Analysis: $50 / h
MARCO PIANA
University Professor, Project Manager
“Languages are worlds of meaning.
Master a new language and
you will discover a new world.’’
Teaching Approach
A language is an open and ever-shifting canvas of words, gestures, images, and sounds. It is a gateway to understanding different cultures, different lifestyles, different ideas. Similarly, an Opera libretto is not a simple text but an intertext, deeply enmeshed in the culture in which it originated. When embodying an Italian-speaking character, one must enter in dialogue with such character and their intricate legacy. Based on the Communicative Approach and Glottodrama techniques, my teaching method emphasizes interaction between language and culture as both the means and the ultimate goal of study. Language and culture, in my vision, are one single entity. In order to master one, we need to master the other, and vice versa.
Classes offered
-Italian language & conversation (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced): $50 ̸ h
-Libretto Analysis: $50 / h – 4 classes minimum
-Italian Literature and Culture (any topic): $50 / h – 4 classes minimum
CHIARA CIMMINO
Actress and acting teacher
‘’Being good is not enough, be unique.’’
Teaching Approach
My goal is to help my students become aware of all their expressive means. Over the years, I have developed an acting and stage directing method specific to the needs of opera singers. My whole work is articulated around freeing tensions, body alignment and imagination in order to create an authentic connection between vocal expression and emotions. It is unbelievable how much a relaxed jaw and an aware body can better not only the stage presence of a performer, but also their singing.
Classes offered
-Acting lessons / Relaxation Techniques: $50 ̸ h
-“Performative Italian diction”: $50 ̸ h
-Italian language & conversation (Intermediate/Advanced): $50 ̸ h
GIANCARLO SCALIA
Pianist, vocal coach and composer
“The devil is in the detail.”
Teaching Approach
I have been coaching singers for over a decade and have worked with hundreds of young, emerging and professional artists. Feeding off the experience of my extensive studies in Europe and my work with various opera companies and as a composer, I always approach each voice differently and try to give each singer the tools and working methods that suit THEIR individual voice. I strongly believe that the role of a coach is not to teach vocal technique but rather to work on musical details that will ultimately improve a singer’s overall sound quality, pronunciation and work methods. Whether it’s the perfect pronunciation of a certain vowel, the meaning of a specific word or the sense of direction in a particular phrase, zeroing in on the right detail can unblock so much and pave the way for substantial improvement.
Classes offered
-Coachings (any repertoire): $50 / h
-Coachings on contemporary music and work methods: $50 / h
ARIEL LEFEBVRE
Opera artist and Administrative Director
Bio
A singer by training, Ariel Lefebvre graduated from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. In recent years, he has worked on numerous musical and lyrical productions across Quebec and the Maritimes. Since 2016 he has been involved with Scuola “Giovanni Grasso” first as an artist and then as a management collaborator. In 2018, he participated in the Halifax Summer Opera Festival in Nova Scotia as well as the Montréal Bach Festival. In addition to pursuing his ambitions as a next-generation singing talent, Ariel has worked as an administrative coordinator for a number of cultural organizations, including the voice ensemble Les Rugissants, which is very involved in the borough of Sud-Ouest in Montréal. Looking for an active role in the socio-economic development of Montréal’s culture sector, Ariel is part of La Machinerie’s team.
This year, Scuola Internazionale di Teatro Giovanni Grasso is launching a new alumni program. The Ambassador Program is a tailor-made training program that aims to establish partnerships with talented artists and collaborators in preparation for Scuola’s next seasons of teaching and stage production.
Testimonials:
“C’est vraiment un endroit différents des autres programme d’été. Il est vraiment conçu pour le développement personnel de l’individu.
Ça consiste en quoi?
– Beaucoup, beaucoup de jeu, théâtre, exploration, présence scénique. J’y a ai appris des outils que je garderai toute ma vie, que j’utilise presque chaque jour.
– Des cours d’italien, des cours de diction italienne.
– Des masterclass.
– Des workshop sur différents aspect de la carrière
– Des coaching privés
– Une performance final, avec mise en scène où tout le monde a l’occasion de chanter!
– Une ambiance de groupe vraiment le fun!”
Laurie T.
“A wonderful choice of voice teachers who are very different in style and approach – which allowed more perspectives. I learned a lot about the meaning of dexterity in theatre and about how it is possible to portray so much emotion and meaning through physicality and intent. Italian diction classes improved my knowledge of proper pronunciation tremendously!! I come from a well-informed background in acting and still managed to gain a lot of new exciting knowledge I can’t wait to incorporate into my own work.“
Michal A.
“I have sung close to 20 operatic roles and worked with many stage directors in the past. Based on this, I feel confident to say that I consider Scuola Giovanni Grasso approach to character building, staging and acting is remarkable, deeply gratifying, and rare to find. You discover the power and freedom that arrives from internalizing and channeling the emotions, text and music. Hence, even the slightest action has a profound motivation. Nothing feels gratuitous or out of place. This renders the acting fluid, organic and at the same time with depth and meaning. I really enjoy working with them and completely agree with their vision of what performing means and requires.”
Jaime S.
“Absolutely fenomenal vocal coachings.”
Catherine D.
“Scuola Giovanni Grasso in Montreal was a revealing and relevant experience in my Opera singer journey. The exercises have definitely taken me out of my comfort zone and brought to think of my characters in a more complete way.”
Sarah B.
Our past workshops:
Due to the COVID 19 crisis, the artist community has been shaken in an unprecedented way. For this reason, this year’s Scuola Giovanni Grasso has been moved to a series of free online workshops and roundtables to provide help and advice to our community of students, professionals, and emerging artists.
